HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Most jobs in this field involve work with people-recruiting and assessing job applicants, training employees, handling discipline problems, handling employee grievances, negotiating with labor unions, etc. Some jobs, however, may be well suited for those more interested in technical analysis of data (e.g., managing health insurance and pension plans, compiling statistical reports on compliance with equal employment opportunity laws, or analyzing jobs for purposes of setting pay rates). Entry level jobs are available to college graduates, although graduate study in industrial relations or law is needed for jobs in labor negotiation.

Students interested in human resource management and employee relations should major either in Economics and Management or in Psychology. The most important courses to take are probably the following:

	Fall	Spring
Freshman	Intro to Economics (E&M 101)^R3 English Composition (ENG 101) Liberal Arts 101^1 Math 125^R OR Math 141	Economy & Financial Markets (E&M 102 ^R Intro to Psychology (PSY 101) Mode/Category^2 Mode/Category^2
Sophomore	Financial Accounting (E&M 211)^R Intermediate Micro (E&M 230)^R Mode/Category^2 Mode/Category^2	Intermediate Macro (E&M 232)^R Statistics: E&M 235, Math 210 or 309^R Indust & Org Psychology (PSY 246) Mode/Category^2
Junior	Labor Law, Unions & Mgmt (E&M 353) Human Communication (Speech 101) Mode/Category^2 Mode/Category^2	Human Resource Management (E&M 355) Small Group Communication (Speech 203) Mode/Category^2 Elective^4
Senior	Management (E&M 359) Women in the Economy (E&M 271) Elective^4 Elective^4	Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (E&M 376) Public Speaking (Speech 241) Elective^4 Elective^4

^RRequired for major:  Includes E&M 101, E&M 102, E&M 211, E&M 230, E&M 232, and three other E&M courses; plus Math 125 or higher and statistics (E&M 235, Math 210, or Math 309)

¹Required freshman course

²Pick course from one of nine areas required for graduation

³E&M 101 counts for one of the nine Mode/Category courses.

⁴Electives might include Introduction to Sociology, Sex and Gender, Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives, Race and Ethnicity, Labor Economics, Public Administration, Social Psychology, Psychology of Motivation, and Introduction to Counseling. Students interested in human resource management and employee relations would also benefit from writing, speaking, quantitative reasoning, and computer skills, which are emphasized in advanced expository writing.